Islamists protest as women stand in Bahrain's election

On a blistering hot afternoon yesterday, Fatima al-Hawaj was doing her final rounds of campaigning on the hustings with a politician's professional optimism of victory in today's polls.

Whether the 36-year-old lawyer wins or not, the fact that she is running in the election is itself remarkable. Bahrain is taking part in its first elections under universal suffrage for 30 years, with women voting and standing for parliament.

The elections are being hailed by the ruling royal family as a huge achievement and a fundamental step towards progress and the modern world. Bahrain's allies in the West, particularly the United States and Britain, believe this outbreak of democracy may now spread to other regimes, semi-feudal and often reactionary, in the Gulf. Only one other state in the region, Kuwait, holds legislative elections, and women are excluded from the voting process.

Bahrain remains one of the most dependable allies of Washington and London in the region, a position Washington and London are keen to preserve, especially in the light of impending conflict with Iraq. The kingdom is the base for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, and also hosts an RAF contingent. But despite widespread publicity over today's poll, generated by dozens of members of the international media in the country, there is a sizeable section of the population which believes the elections are neither progressive, nor the harbinger of a democratic society. There is some discontent about the presence of Western forces in the country, and there have been several violent demonstrations over Palestine and Iraq.

On Tuesday evening, thousands turned up at a rally called by an umbrella group for Islamist organisations which calls for a boycott of the polls. The organisers claimed an attendance of about 30,000, but the actual number was probably less than 10,000. It was, nevertheless, a very public sign of the discontent and division in the kingdom.

The objections of the Islamists, the vast majority of whom are Shia Muslims, range from the supposed inadequacy of the new constitution to objections to the electoral role being played by women.

The newly elected assembly of 40 will have no more power than a council, also of 40, appointed by the King, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and thus, say the Islamists, any reform not to the liking of the ruling Sunni elite can be blocked.

They demand a return to the "illegally amended" constitution in force the last time elections were held in 1973.

Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the largest Islamist group, Al-Wefaq, told the rally: "We do not want to be witness to a defective birth of parliament. We want to continue our march for political reform and we will fight for our rights, but we have to do it peacefully."

Abdulrahman Alnoaimi, chairman of the National Democratic Action Society, added: "Those of us who chose to boycott the elections have, in fact, participated in improving political awareness, especially with government officials on the importance of a differing point of view. We have given them a medicine that is good for their health, although they may not like the taste".

Selim Jaffar, a 33-year-old Shia standing in the audience, said: "I am not going to vote. We Shias are badly treated. The people in power are Sunnis and they will never allow anything that gives Shias equality. The new constitution must be reformed."

Ahmed Omar Nasrullah had similar objections, and he added: "They are trying to win favour with America and the Europeans by promoting women in politics. But that is not the way of Islam, and they will not win any seats."

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, who was educated in Britain and America, and is a force for reform in Bahrain, rejects suggestions that the Islamists will create trouble for the government as well as the US and British military stationed in the country. "We do not believe that is the case, and we shall take all action necessary if there is a terrorist threat," he said.